Freeimage
CVE-2025-70968
CRITICAL
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A06:2021 - Vulnerable and Outdated Components
ASVS 5.0
V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture Memory lifecycle management
MITRE ATT&CK
2 techniques across 2 tactics: Execution, Privilege Escalation The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Impact | CVSS 9.8 (Critical). PoC available. EPSS 0.08%. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An attacker distributes a malicious TGA image. Applications using FreeImage to process it trigger the UAF, enabling code execution. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Mar 12, 2026
FreeImage 3.18.0 has a use-after-free in the TARGA plugin's loadRLE function. Processing a malicious TGA file can lead to code execution. PoC available.
Earlier versions of this analysis (1)
FreeImage TARGA RLE decoder has use-after-free enabling code execution via malicious TGA files.
RemediationAI
Update FreeImage. Be cautious processing TGA files from untrusted sources.
Affects your stack
Find out whether the stacks and servers you run are on an affected version.
Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.
Technical ContextAI · show details
The loadRLE() function in PluginTARGA.cpp has a use-after-free (CWE-416). FreeImage is used by many applications for image processing.
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- Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources
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Severity by source
AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Primary rating from NVD.
CVSS VectorNVD
Lifecycle Timeline
2DescriptionCVE.org
FreeImage 3.18.0 contains a Use After Free in PluginTARGA.cpp;loadRLE().
Executive ViewAI
Organizations using FreeImage 3.18.0 face critical risk from CVE-2025-70968, a use-after-free vulnerability rated CVSS 9.8. Successful exploitation could critically impact the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of affected systems. Proof-of-concept code is publicly available, increasing the risk of exploitation. Organizations should apply vendor updates immediately when available and implement compensating controls in the interim.
Apply vendor patch. If immediate patching is not feasible: (1) Enable ASLR and DEP where available; (2) Implement network segmentation; (3) Monitor for exploitation indicators.
Threat Intelligence Overview
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
GitHub
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
Use-after-free vulnerabilities occur when a program continues to access memory through a pointer after that memory has been deallocated.
Affected Products (CPE)CVE.org
An integer overflow vulnerability in FreeImageIO.cpp::_MemoryReadProc in FreeImage 3.18.0 allows attackers to obtain sen
An integer overflow vulnerability in LoadPixelDataRLE4 function in PluginBMP.cpp in Freeimage 3.18.0 allows attackers to
Buffer Overflow vulnerability in open source FreeImage v.3.19.0 [r1909] allows a local attacker to execute arbitrary cod
Buffer Overflow vulnerability in open source FreeImage v.3.19.0 [r1909] allows a local attacker to execute arbitrary cod
Buffer Overflow vulnerability in open source FreeImage v.3.19.0 [r1909] allows a local attacker to execute arbitrary cod
Buffer Overflow vulnerability in open source FreeImage v.3.19.0 [r1909] allows a local attacker to execute arbitrary cod
Buffer Overflow vulnerability in open source FreeImage v.3.19.0 [r1909] allows a local attacker to execute arbitrary cod
Buffer Overflow vulnerability in open source FreeImage v.3.19.0 [r1909] allows a local attacker to execute arbitrary cod
Buffer Overflow vulnerability in open source FreeImage v.3.19.0 [r1909] allows a local attacker to execute arbitrary cod
A flaw was found in the freeimage library. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, n
In FreeImage 3.18.0, an out-of-bounds access occurs because of mishandling of the OpenJPEG j2k_read_ppm_v3 function in j
When FreeImage 3.18.0 reads a special JXR file, the StreamCalcIFDSize function of JXRMeta.c repeatedly calls itself due
Exploit-DB